Three die in grain train derailment

FIELD, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA — Three Canadian Pacific (CP) Railway crew members were killed on Feb. 4 in a grain train derailment east of Field, British Columbia.

Keith Creel, president and CEO of CP, released a statement about the accident.

“As a result of the derailment, which occurred at approximately 1 a.m. mountain time, we lost three professional railroaders. The three-person crew included conductor Dylan Paradis, engineer Andrew Dockrell and trainee Daniel Waldenberger-Bulmer.

“In the hours ahead, we remain focused on employee safety and the safety of our first responders, in addition to working closely with the families of the deceased and all our employees. This is a tragedy that will have a long-lasting impact on our family of railroaders. The incident is under investigation and we will not speculate at this time on a cause – we owe it to those involved to get it right.”

David Karn, a spokesman for the B.C. Environment Ministry, told Reuters that between 30 and 40 grain cars left the tracks in the derailment. He said the situation was being monitored and there was no immediate word of fuel or other contaminants entering the water.

The Transportation Safety Board said it had sent a team of investigators to the site.

Sixteen cars from a CP train derailed on Jan. 3 in the same area. No one was hurt in that derailment.